Goffin Pushes Closer To London Berth

It was a disappointing Wednesday for a couple of Nitto ATP Finals contenders. But David Goffin, who is the next player in line to qualify for the year-end finale, continued his push for a first London appearance after playing last season as an alternate.

The Belgian managed to battle past an in-form Frenchman playing in front of his home crowd, eliminating Adrian Mannarino, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters.

The victory put Goffin within one match of guaranteeing his spot at The O2 from 12-19 November, as he has to reach the quarter-finals to clinch his year-end finale berth. Next in his path to London will be a home favourite, Julien Benneteau. Goffin won their only past tour-level meeting at this year’s US Open in four sets.

The 26-year-old was always the frontrunner to take one of two spots remaining in this year’s Nitto ATP Finals. But he has benefitted from losses by his nearest competitors. The three players directly below him at the start of the week are all out of the Paris draw: No. 9 Pablo Carreno Busta, No. 11 Sam Querrey and No. 12 Kevin Anderson.

Grigor Dimitrov, who already qualified for his first Nitto ATP Finals, continued his career-best season with an emphatic 6-4, 6-4 triumph against the in-form home favourite, Richard Gasquet.

The Bulgarian will achieve a new-career high Emirates ATP Ranking next week of, at the very least, No. 7. If he manages to win his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title of the season (Cincinnati), Dimitrov will rise to No. 3 in the world, five spots better than his previous career-high of No. 8, where he is in the standings this week. Dimitrov faces a stiff test next in ninth seed John Isner, as the pair has split their two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, with three of four sets going to tie-breaks.

Marin Cilic, like Dimitrov, gained more momentum as the Nitto ATP Finals approach, eliminating compatriot Borna Coric, 6-4, 6-3.

Cilic will next face a familiar foe in Roberto Bautista Agut, who ousted French qualifier Jeremy Chardy in the final match of the day, 6-4, 6-1. The Croatian owns a 3-1 lead in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series, which includes a lopsided victory at Wimbledon this year, where Cilic dropped just six games over the match’s three sets. If Bautista Agut will have any chance of qualifying for his first Nitto ATP Finals, he will have to win the title in Paris.

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